Factors Related to Maternal Oral Health Status: Focus on Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women

Unfavourable beliefs about oral health and safety of dental care during pregnancy: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

Oral conditions such as gingivitis and periodontitis are correlated with adverse pregnancy outcomes such as preeclampsia, preterm birth and low birth weight. Oral health-related unfavourable beliefs can have negative influences on oral health behaviours including hesitation in accessing preventative dental treatments and dental service utilization. The objective of this systematic review was to examine unfavourable beliefs that expectant or new mothers frequently hold about oral health and the safety of dental care during pregnancy.

METHODS

An electronic database search on PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, and MEDLINE (Ovid) followed by forward and backward citation tracing of the included studies was conducted. All English primary studies regardless of the year of publication were independently screened by two reviewers to identify studies addressing unfavourable beliefs about oral health and dental care during pregnancy. The CLARITY tool was applied to assess the risk of bias in the included studies.

RESULTS

Out of a total of 5766 records, 39 quantitative and six qualitative studies met the inclusion criteria. The commonly held unfavourable beliefs were regarding the safety of dental services utilization and dental treatment procedures, the adverse impacts of pregnancy on oral health, and oral hygiene necessity during pregnancy. The most discussed unfavourable beliefs included "pregnant women lose their teeth because of pregnancy" (n = 18), "dental treatments are not safe and harm the fetus" (n = 17), and "the developing baby absorbs calcium from the mother's teeth" (n = 14).

CONCLUSIONS

Unfavourable beliefs about oral health and dental care utilization are common among pregnant women and new mothers. The literature suggests that a low level of oral health knowledge and seeking information from social networks can contribute to such beliefs. This has implications for health promotion.

Sociodemographic Factors Associated with the Level of Knowledge of Early Postpartum Women about Oral Health Prevention in Infants Aged 0 to 2 Years Old: A Cross-Sectional Study under a Multivariable Analysis

The objective was to evaluate the sociodemographic factors associated with the level of knowledge of early puerperal women about oral health prevention in infants. This cross-sectional and analytical study evaluated 303 early puerperal women from a hospital in the Peruvian capital. A validated 18-question questionnaire was used to measure the level of knowledge. A logistic regression model was used to evaluate the influence of age, marital status, educational level, number of children, monthly income, and having a dentist as a family member. A significance of p < 0.05 was considered. A total of 46.86%, 30.36%, and 22.77% of the puerperal had poor, fair, and good knowledge, respectively. The risk of having poor knowledge was two times higher (OR = 2.43; CI: 1.26-4.70) in early postpartum women aged 18 to 25 years than in those older than 35 years. Early postpartum women with no education, primary and secondary education were 11 times (OR = 11.76; CI: 2.41-57.43), 6 times (OR = 6.61; CI: 1.72-25.45), and 5 times (OR = 5.50; CI: 1.52-19.89), respectively, more likely to have significantly poor knowledge compared to those with university education. In conclusion, only a small minority of early postpartum women had a good knowledge of oral health prevention in infants aged 0 to 2 years. Younger and less educated puerperal were at greater risk of having little knowledge on this topic. Finally, not having basic education was the main risk factor identified.

Prevalence and Risk Factors for Periodontal Disease Among Women Attending Antenatal Care in Public Hospitals, Southwest Ethiopia, 2022: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study

Background

Periodontal disease is characterized by the inflammation of all tissues that surround and support the teeth, and it is the most common public health problem worldwide. It has many different contributing factors, such as poor oral hygiene, smoking, anemia, bacterial plaque, poor economic status, and nutritional deficiency. It also causes different feto-maternal complications like preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, preterm labor, low birth weight, and early abortion. Thus, this study aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of periodontal disease among pregnant women.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 618 women at public hospitals in the Southwest Ethiopia. Data were collected using a systematic random sampling method and a structured interviewer administered questionnaire. The data were entered into Epi-Data Manager 4.2 and then transferred to a statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 21 for analysis. The logistic regression analysis was done to see the significant association between each predictor with periodontal disease by considering a p-value of <0.05 and a CI of 95%.

Results

A total of 618 women attending ANC with a 100% response rate were enrolled in this study. The mean and standard deviation of the age of the study participants was 31.07 ± 7.8 years. The periodontal disease was observed among 240 (38.8%) of the total participants with 95% C.I of (35%, 43%). Predictors like rural residency, women who could not read and write, women with poor wealth index, nutritional status of underweight, had no information about periodontal disease, depression, history of diabetes mellitus, self-perceived halitosis, no history of ANC, and lower gestational age were found to be significantly associated with periodontal disease.

Conclusion

In this study, the prevalence of periodontal disease was found to be significantly higher. Therefore, in order to minimize the burden of periodontal disease among pregnant women, oral, medical, and mental health education should be promoted.

Associated factors of depression in pregnant women in Korea based on the 2019 Korean Community Health Survey: a cross-sectional study

Purpose

Various individual and social factors influence depression in pregnant women. The purpose of this study was to identify the influence of socioeconomic status, health behaviors, and health status on depression of pregnant women in Korea.

Methods

This study analyzed data from the 2019 Korean Community Health Survey conducted from August to October 2019. A structural questionnaire with Patient Health Quetsionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), health behavior, health status, and psychological characteristics was used. The data of 1,096 pregnant women between the ages of 19 and 55 years were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent-test and chi-square tests, and multiple regression.

Results

The mean score of prenatal depression as measured by the PHQ-9 during pregnancy was 2.35 points out of 0 to 27 points. Low income (B=0.69, p<.001), low-education level (B=0.70, p<.001), skipping breakfast (B=0.34, p=.001), less than 8 hours of sleeping (B=0.26, p=.009), binge drinking during pregnancy (B=0.46, p=.001), and stress (B=1.89, p<.001) were significantly associated with increased depression scores. In contrast, depression scores significantly decreased as subjective health status (B=–0.59, p<.001) and subjective oral health status (B=–.17, p=.003) increased.

Conclusion

Findings support the need for healthcare policies and clinical screening to alleviate prenatal depression, especially for pregnant women with low socioeconomic status, poor health behavior, poor health status, and high stress.